x.com/rynorhn/status/2097223532438487463
1 correction found
they were paying openai out of pocket
Buckmaster’s statement says the OpenAI usage was paid from his research funds, not from personal out-of-pocket spending.
Full reasoning
The post says they were paying OpenAI "out of pocket." But in Buckmaster’s statement, he describes the arrangement differently: "I pay for the tools my group uses out of my own research funds, including footing a large bill to OpenAI."
That matters because research funds and personal out-of-pocket spending are not the same thing. His statement portrays the collaboration as personal and non-institutional, but it does not say he was personally paying OpenAI from his own pocket; it says he was using research funds under his control.
2 sources
- statement.pdf
"I should also emphasize that this is not an institutional effort... I pay for the tools my group uses out of my own research funds, including footing a large bill to OpenAI."
- Mathematics Just Had Its Deep Blue Moment. Then OpenAI Called.
"One easily missed detail: in his email to OpenAI, Buckmaster noted he paid for these tools out of his own research funds, 'including footing a large bill to OpenAI.'"